Winter
by BlaerLightBreeze
Summary: She was born in the frost, but can Winter heal the heart of the man she loves while finding out about her past? EOC Leroux/Kay


**Hey guys! Instead of actually going and doing my homework I decided to instead thrill you with this piece of inspiration I got whilst doing Bio medical hw! I love _Phantom of the Opera_ and to show my appreciation I have attempted to make a non-sucky phanfiction that actually sounds good! **

**I worked two hours on this... I sure as hell work hard, don't I?**

**Well anyhow, please Review and Fave, because all that makes my day! (see how I rhymed there?)**

* * *

**(Listen to _Doll _by Helen Jane Long while reading this introduction. You'll thank me later).**

Chapter 1: Winter

I can remember the day as though it were yesterday. I didn't know who I was or where I had come from, and my mind had been as foggy as the winter sky above the Earth that strange afternoon.

It must have been afternoon. There were no song birds singing.

I can recall a blanket of snow engulfing my body on all sides, as though I were an island in a sea of frozen water. It dampened my naked body and gave my fingers and toes a blue hue, probably from a developing case of frostbite. I wasn't fazed in the slightest. I could not recall my past. I could not recall my being. Though in those few moments of realization I felt I had never been so alive in my entire life. The smell of pine and rotting wood engulfed my senses. The feeling of falling snowflakes coated my body with chills of gratitude and fear. The bleak white of the land opened my clear blue eyes to a world that was rich and new to me, and I knew in that moment that the Goddess had given me new life from whatever I had previously been.

In those moments I had been baptized.

Yes, I had no idea who I was. I had no revelation of where I had come from. Yet I knew that there was something calling me, drawing me up. It forced my chilled slender fingers against the frozen ground to push me up. It ushered my calves to flex as my newly born body began to stand on quivering legs. It demanded my lungs take in my first breath of clear ice air, and let it coat my insides with the purest of feelings. None of it was easy. The tasks seemed impossible at first, but as my heel soared above the ground in my very first step and then quaked as it came back onto the Earth I discovered a feeling of freedom. The tasks then turned into wanting. I yearned to feel the wind intertwine with my flames of hair. I yipped and howled as I used my voice to taste the sound of a soprano resonating from my throat. It felt so good!

I began to experiment more with the sound coming from my pink lips. I screeched like a hawk, cooed like dove, sang to an imaginary lover. I whooped and hollered and stretched my range until I made noises that only the wildest of beasts could comprehend. The innocence of sound filled the world.

I then began to discover new muscles that tensed within my body. My arms stretched above my crown as I reached for the graying sky. Fingers dangled in the air, linking hands with gusts of wind. I let my legs fumble sporadically as I learned steps to made-up dances, and I grew more graceful and fluent with each rehearsing movement. Soon I was singing and dancing, spinning and laughing in that beautiful world of the purest white, the only disruption being the footprints embedded by my bare feet.

I was a child of the Frost, an incarnation of the flurries of snow. I was the whisper of wind that tickled a person's ear in the chilled morning. I was a gleam in the crystal of an icicle on a branch.

Then I stopped.

I had a name.

I was Winter.

* * *

The ex-serf Vera Bagrov walked chattily. She was a young girl of sixteen with dark eyes and even darker hair, her curly locks swaying freely by her waist and her hips bouncing with every step she'd take. Winter had been through thick and thin with this Earthly creature throughout the last five years, helping her through the pain and suffering of being a serf to the land, and enjoying the laughter and contentment of many carefree days afterwards. She was the closest thing to a friend Winter had ever experienced. The closest her cold soul would ever permit.

Vera talked about many things as they trudged through the knee deep snow. Winter rarely if ever responded, allowing Vera to fill up the spaces of silence with her exotic voice. She was always the talkative one, and elaborated many times on the simplistic aspects of life and on the revolution many peasants believed to be coming in the near future. A new power was coming to the land of Russia, and soon the days of the Tsar would be over, as many had foretold. The political standings of the world were of no interest to Winter, however. She did not associate herself with the destructive nature of mankind, seeing herself as a pure being of Nature.

Men were cruel and distant. They were an ever growing breed of animal, isolating themselves gradually from the natural world. Every day they expanded their population like the plague, tearing down the homes of their brethren creatures, taking and taking without ever giving back. It disgusted Winter to see such apex creatures abusing their intellectual advantages. Mother Nature had given them so many gifts, yet they give little appreciation to the one who had given it to them. It didn't help with their case as they were just as monstrous and cold to their own kind. Winter couldn't count all the times she'd seen a display of violence from one human being to another in her time on Earth. The acts they'd commit against one another could range from petty to gruesome and everything in between.

Winter couldn't help but wonder why she had been born a human.

* * *

The trees around the two women thin as they near the farm, a run down and straw roofed house begins to come into view. Vera gives a playful push to the girl with frosted skin and flaming hair in attempts to start a chase to the humble home. Winter quietly obliges and pursues the careless Russian lass like in a game of fox and hound, the two girls giggling and accelerating toward the shabby building with shining grins on their faces. Winter was as silent and quick as the midnight gust. Her unclothed feet move swiftly despite the walls of snow, carrying themselves in leaping strides over every mound. She easily catches up to Vera, knocking her down and kissing her cheek. It was her way of saying "I got you" to the ebony headed human, concluding their round of chase for the evening. Winter helps her companion up and they continue once again in a one-sided conversation.

The house was fairly warm, a fire was softly lighting the room from one corner of the room. Despite being indoors the two females refrain from shedding any layers of clothing, as Vera was cold and Winter didn't want to feel out of place.

She could easily survive a couple nights without any humanly sources of warmth.

The sounds of iron work could be heard from outside the back as Vera's husband works on a project. Winter never cared to learn about his work or his occupation, and kept herself distant from the man on a daily basis. She could never trust men and took on the role as a sort of feminist. She even refrained from worshipping the Christian God as there was masculinity behind the figureheads of the religion, and instead worshipped Mother Nature as a whole. Vera often poked fun at her ethereal friend for these reasons, claiming that the girl would never find a husband.

Winter had no intentions of doing so anyways. She had no time for love.

The two spend the rest of the evening drinking tea and leading on many ordinary conversations, all of which being led by Vera as Winter continued with her usual reserved mood. They later on exchange hugs and goodbye kisses as was their ritual, and allowed Winter to wander off into the woods. Vera never knew where it was that her friend retired to at night, and often she would find herself worrying about her peculiar friend when the weather grew harsh with snowfall. If Vera had even the slightest inclination that Winter lived in a cave, she might've had a heart attack.

* * *

Winter walks deep into the woods, her excellent nocturnal vision keeping her from running into any unwanted objects. The snow was scarce here, and it was quiet times like these that both were a joy as well as a danger for Winter. She'd had too many instances where a wild beast had lurked out of the quiet brush of the night, hungry for the flesh of a young woman, and Winter had learned to always keep on her toes when the sun had set. She loved Mother Nature, but she was not ignorant either.

She continues with hushed steps in the direction of her cave, keeping close to the darker of shadows and near the cover of the trees. However, as she nears her designated home for the time being, a loud flash of sparks lights up the night.

Confused and startled, Winter climbs up a tree to hide, her stance like a feral cat ready to pounce. Another blast the strange lights illuminates the trees in the distance and Winter begins to hear the chatter and cacophony of voices in the distance.

Slowly and gently, she lowers herself down from her branch, continuing toward the disturbance in a cautious crouch. To any other human she would have looked like a wild animal walking amongst the shadows of the night. On closer inspection, however, they would be surprised to find a white skinned girl, cold as death, with freckles and strands of frizzy fiery hair. Despite her wild appearance, and lack of clothing, she held the look of a beautiful and sophisticated woman.

It doesn't take her long to find the source of the commotion. Only a little less than half a mile away an extravagant display of lights and colorful tents presents itself. People from many walks of life crowd the wide area of entertainment, people who range from poor to rich all united in one rich display of excitement. To Winter it looked as though she had stumbled upon Eden.

No longer tense, all her fears wash away as she is taken in by the strange and beautiful sights. Lanterns and streamers hang from posts embedded within the ground, and stands of many strange objects and merchandise line up between the uniquely designed tents. The smells of many exotic foods linger in the air and on a rare occasion her stomach responds with hunger.

She lets her feet lead her to one of the many stands and receives a sample of some sort of meat on a stick. Inspecting it carefully, she turns it over in her hands before deciding that it's safe to eat. Hesitantly she sniffs at it and finally with anticipation takes a bite. Winter was astounded by the taste! It was spicy yet tenderly juicy, emitting so much flavor that a sigh of satisfaction escapes her lips. She consumes the rest in two bites till it dawns on her that she has no more.

Upset and frustrated –she was lacking money at the moment –she hastily devises a plan to acquire more of the mouthwatering meat.

Swiftly and quietly, she pickpockets a pack of matches from a smoking man's waistcoat, pretending to bump into him while using her quick reflexes to snatch out her prize. Once that part was done she lit the match… and dropped it on the skirt of a passerby.

The woman shrieks with fear as her skirts catch fire, a small one, but none-the-less a fire. Amongst the confusion Winter loops around to the food stand, taking a multitude of meat while the owner is distracted.

She escapes without a sound.

With victory in the palm of her hand she indulges herself once more on the fast food, walking confidently in the crowd of sight seers. As she rounds the corner of a large blue tent, splattered with a diamond pattern and silver trimming, she spots another tent located on the outskirts of the festival.

It looked odd located away from the rest of the festivities, almost menacing with its dark red visage and gold trim, and it had a rounded roof unlike the triangular ones she had seen earlier. Smoke seeped from the entrance tarp, creating a strange smell that made Winter feel light headed and dizzy. In her mind it looked as though a dragon were slumbering underneath the fabric of the little hut.

Curious as to what could be lying within, Winter enters the tent.

The inside was just as dark and vivid as the outside. Tapestries and rugs covered every surfaces, hardly leaving a spot of natural ground to be seen. They ranged from all different colors and fabrics but all shared the same exotic and fanciful look. In the corner an arrangement of cushions and pillows were stacked, almost like a nest, and smaller cushions were placed in the center with a small crowd of people sitting atop them.

Winter takes a seat in the back corner, loose and relaxed from the strange smoke leaking through the air. Minutes pass before anything happens, and Winter almost takes the chance to leave behind the audience and the strange scenery.

She stops when the tallest man she's ever seen appears in front of the mass of people.

He shows up from out of nowhere, seemingly out of thin air, surpassing six feet in height and clad in all black… which included the mask upon his face. It was just as black as the formal attire he donned, revealing nothing except his thin pale lips. Fascinated, Winter leans forward in utter awe, entranced by the atmosphere that was being held now as the strange man bows to the audience and introduces himself.

His voice was otherworldly.

Smooth and rich, it seemed to fill up every space and every mind. It was almost hard to believe that anyone could sound so vibrant and heavenly, but here was this man capturing the hearts of a whole audience with only a word.

"I am the Illusionist." He says calmly. He was a snake enticing a mouse with his eyes. A cliff calling for a weary man to jump. He was everything and yet nothing at all in that moment, and Winter couldn't help but feel the same emotion as when she had first awoken to the world. She had only once felt so alive, yet now she felt the same feelings once again from none other than a man.

A man had caused her heart to leap with desire and joy.

The next hour continues with a wondrous spectacle of magic and illusion. The Illusionist's hands worked fluently, his genius inspiring everyone in the room. He made things appear and disappear, a table to fly across the floor without touching it, and even sawed a woman in half without killing her. When she was released from the box, she looked just as shocked and confused as the rest of the crowd.

When all was said and done, the magician took a grand bow and thanked the audience for their attendance, smiling triumphantly as he turns around on his heel to set up for the next show.

"Show us the face behind the mask!" A man shouts. He and the group of men around him all laugh at the comment, soon jeering and chanting for him to unmask himself. In only a couple of seconds, the whole tent seemed to join in, roaring with desire to see the magicians face.

A deathly aura seems to overtake the Illusionist. His shoulders tense and square and his fists ball up tightly. He utters something inaudible before turning around to face the crowd, mask in hand.

Not a breath was heard.

Ten seconds pass.

Twenty seconds.

A scream pierces the silence.

A wave of bodies herd out of the tent, women and men all tripping over each other to get away. In the mass of confusion Winter is knocked down and trampled on by the stampede of persons, all trying to escape from deaths gaze.

What they had seen could only be the face of death.

Winter attempts to get up but a couple who were seated at the front of the group trip over her aching body, knocking her down to the carpeted floor once again, dazed and confused.

Never in her life had she seen something so gruesome, so deformed. She stares at the ground in a paralyzed state, hardly believing what she had just encountered.

"_Are you too afraid to move? Or too stupid to run?!" _the beautiful voice spits. The venom in his words embeds deep down into her heart and for once she feels fear. It was such a foreign emotion, but one that seemed to excite her none-the-less. Who was this creature that caused so many emotions to swell inside of her being? Never in her years had a man caused her to feel so much, and in one night! Winter couldn't help but let the fear and curiosity seep into every crevice of her mind, allowing it to overwhelm her till tears began to spill from her eyes. It was all so odd and exciting!

She looks into his horrible face once more before deciding that she actually loved a man.


End file.
